*Background music: Ludovico Einaudi – Nuvole Bianche. From minute 2:30 onwards*
Two ninjas carrying a large wooden box in their hands passed by Eren, who was sitting at a piano playing music to himself, carrying the box in the direction Kabuto had shown them.
Exactly two weeks had passed since Eren and Kabuto had grown closer.
Thanks to their closeness and Kabuto's level of freedom, Eren finally found an opportunity to complete one of his template tasks.
[Template Task 13: Use music for manipulation. Arataka Reigen remembered how he once used classical music to make an old man let his guard down, and thought you could do the same.
Task duration: 2 days]
[Congratulations, template task completed. Template similarity +10]
[Your current template similarity: 45%]
Eren quickly glanced at all the system notifications that appeared and continued playing music.
Meanwhile, a different situation was unfolding in Konoha.
After nearly two months, a message finally reached the Hokage's office.
The trade caravan Eren was traveling with had not arrived, even though they had exceeded the maximum delay period of three weeks.
Sarutobi Hiruzen listened to this message from an Anbu ninja, with Danzo present beside him.
"How wonderful, hmh! I told you before, Hiruzen. No matter how foolish that boy is, the blood of the Uzumaki clan flows through his veins. You should have given him to me to train as a backup jinchuriki in case of a potential disaster scenario."
"Wait a moment, Danzo. We don't even know what else is going on."
"Should I wait? What if something happens to Naruto? Who in the village has the potential to become a Jinchuriki? Tell me!"
"Stop it, Danzo!"
"Stop what? No, we need to talk about this. You go and summon the village's two elders."
Finding himself suddenly in the middle of an unexpected argument, the ANBU looked at Sarutobi's face, wondering whether to carry out the order he had received.
"Go get them."
The Anbu immediately vanished from the room upon receiving the order.
Seeing that the Anbu had consulted Sarutobi before carrying out his order, Danzo was quite uncomfortable with the situation. It was as if he had realized once again how hollow his position as the Hokage's assistant truly was.
"Fine. Let's talk, Sarutobi. You've been completely emotional about Uzumaki Eren until now. But enough is enough. He's probably eaten more of this village's bread than anyone else, Sarutobi. Now it's time for him to pay his debt to this village."
"Calm down, Danzo! Let's find out where he is first. Then we'll talk about this."
Of course, Danzo didn't shut up and retreat to his corner with such a small warning.
Without even bothering to listen to Danzo until the other two Hokage assistants arrived, Sarutobi took the black tobacco he had bought from Eren out of the desk drawer and lit it.
In fact, even though he didn't say it, Eren's disappearance scared him too.
Eren had been quite happy since he left because Eren's store was making more money than he had expected, but the real profit wasn't coming from there. Eren had a huge trade network at its core, officially.
After thinking for a while, Sarutobi realized that someone with such a trade network could simply supply products to other stores as an intermediary and make huge profits.
Of course, doing something like that would mean a small increase in all prices in Konoha, which would mean inflation.
A sudden increase in prices would have a very bad effect on the economy that Hiruzen had worked so hard to stabilize.
Hiruzen's goodwill towards Eren, who he realized hadn't succumbed to the lure of money and had chosen this path for the village's sake, was greater than Danzo could have imagined at that time.
They needed to find Eren immediately.
At that moment, two people rushed into the room, and thus the big argument began.
And throughout all this time, the only thing that remained unchanged was the way Eren sat at the piano.
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"Where did you learn to play the piano? I've never seen anyone play as well as you, even in the Land of Earth."
Right after I finished playing a piece, I heard Kabuto's praise from behind me.
Of course, I couldn't tell him that I had taken lessons as a child in my previous life. So it was best not to say anything to him.
"Is that what you think? Actually, playing the piano isn't as difficult as you think. I can teach you. If you play according to the notes, you'll become a pianist; if you play according to your dreams, you'll become a jazz musician. Sit down."
"Hahaha, thanks. Right now, what I really want to learn is how to use these technological things to help Orochimaru-sama."
"Alright then. Have they arranged the items Orochimaru-sama sent inside?"
"No, they put the boxes inside, but they're waiting for you to arrange them."
At Kabuto's words, I stretched and got up from where I was sitting. My butt hurt a little from sitting on a hard rock while playing the piano all this time, but it was definitely worth it.
After getting up from my seat, I turned my head and started looking around. Unlike before, I no longer had to spend all my time inside the huge cave; I was now at the cave's entrance.
This place, which would become Orochimaru's main base, the hidden sound village, in the future, was currently seeing new buildings being constructed around it.
The delivery had arrived before sunrise. It took them so long to place everything in the cave that I could see the dawn light.
"By the way, Kabuto. Thank you for secretly having the ninjas who brought Orochimaru's delivery give me some pions. I needed them more than I thought. I feel like the invisible pressure on me has lifted."
"It's all right, it was just a small request. Besides, everyone seems to enjoy listening to you. Anyway, let's go inside."